Hepatitis B is a viral disease transmitted parenterally by contaminated material such as blood and blood products, contaminated needles, sexually and vertically from infected or carrier mothers to their offspring. It is estimated by the World Health Organization that more than 2 billion people have been infected worldwide, with about 4 million acute cases per year, 1 million deaths per year, and 350-400 million chronic carriers (World Health Organization: Geographic Prevalence of Hepatitis B Prevalence, 2004. http://www.who.int/vaccines-surveillance/graphics/htmls/hepbprev.htm).
The virus, HBV, is a double-stranded hepatotropic virus which infects only humans and non-human primates. Viral replication takes place predominantly in the liver and, to a lesser extent, in the kidneys, pancreas, bone marrow and spleen (Hepatitis B virus biology. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev. 64: 2000; 51-68.). Viral and immune markers are detectable in blood and characteristic antigen-antibody patterns evolve over time. The first detectable viral marker is HBsAg, followed by hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) and HBV DNA. Titers may be high during the incubation period, but HBV DNA and HBeAg levels begin to fall at the onset of illness and may be undetectable at the time of peak clinical illness (Hepatitis B virus infection—natural history and clinical consequences. N Engl J Med. 350: 2004; 1118-1129). HBeAg is a viral marker detectable in blood and correlates with active viral replication, and therefore high viral load and infectivity (Hepatitis B e antigen—the dangerous end game of hepatitis B. N Engl J Med. 347: 2002; 208-210). The presence of anti-HBsAb and anti-HBcAb (IgG) indicates recovery and immunity in a previously infected individual.
Currently the recommended therapies for chronic HBV infection by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) and the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) include interferon alpha (INFα), pegylated interferon alpha-2a (Peg-IFN2a), entecavir, and tenofovir. The nucleoside and nucleotide therapies, entecavir and tenofovir, are successful at reducing viral load, but the rates of HBeAg seroconversion and HBsAg loss are even lower than those obtained using IFNα therapy. Other similar therapies, including lamivudine (3TC), telbivudine (LdT), and adefovir are also used, but for nucleoside/nucleotide therapies in general, the emergence of resistance limits therapeutic efficacy.
Thus, there is a need in the art to discover and develop new anti-viral therapies. Additionally, there is a need for new anti-HBV therapies capable of increasing HBeAg and HBsAg seroconversion rates. Recent clinical research has found a correlation between seroconversion and reductions in HBeAg (Fried et al (2008) Hepatology 47:428) and reductions in HBsAg (Moucari et al (2009) Hepatology 49:1151). Reductions in antigen levels may have allowed immunological control of HBV infection because high levels of antigens are thought to induce immunological tolerance. Current nucleoside therapies for HBV are capable of dramatic reductions in serum levels of HBV but have little impact on HBeAg and HBsAg levels.
Antisense technology is emerging as an effective means for reducing the expression of specific gene products and may therefore prove to be uniquely useful in a number of therapeutic, diagnostic, and research applications for the modulation of HBV expression (See U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2008/0039418 and 2007/0299027). Antisense therapy differs from nucleoside therapy in that it can directly target the transcripts for the HBV antigens and thereby reduce serum HBeAg and HBsAg levels. Because of the multiple, overlapping transcripts produced upon HBV infection, there is also an opportunity for a single antisense oligomer to reduce HBV DNA in addition to both HBeAg and HBsAg. Therefore, antisense technology is emerging as an effective means for reducing the expression of certain gene products and may therefore prove to be uniquely useful in a number of therapeutic, diagnostic, and research applications for the modulation of HBV.